This was the day which suggested that one half of the championship is effectively over. If not the drivers' title, then surely the constructors' crown.

Best of the rest is what every team except Mercedes will have to settle for on the evidence of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday.

Their margin over the rest of the field, more than a second given Lewis Hamilton's storming pole time, is not unheard of.

But it is the fact that coming into the European season it seems to have been extended rather than diminished. Any comeback by Red Bull, who have already worked wonders after a horrible pre-season, and anyone else for that matter, will in all likelihood come too late.

Anything is possible, but the determination of Mercedes to avoid complacency will power them on further. It emerged this week the team has hired a sports psychologist to aid their quest, but before long they will have loan him out to the rest of the grid to help them cope with being slower.

Mercedes are thought to have set an objective of around 28 points a race before the season began. So far they have shattered that target and will do so again today barring any mechanical gremlins.

The battle between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg is, of course, a live issue.

However, even with everything the German threw at his friend and rival on Saturday, Hamilton continues to have his number.

The dynamic between the pair is a fascinating one, and there were some awkward smiles and laughs in the post-qualifying press conference.

Casting his eye over the timing screens as he was being weighed, Hamilton nodded with what must have been a huge sense of satisfaction.

He was behind in the final free practice. He was behind in qualifying one. He was still behind in qualifying two. But he was ahead at the death, when it really mattered.

At a track where overtaking is difficult, he knows the importance of starting ahead of his team-mate and sole challenger for this year's title and leading from the front.

If the 29-year-old converts pole into a win on Sunday – 17 out of 23 races at the Circuit de Catalunya have gone that way – he will be guaranteed the championship lead he so richly deserves.

After qualifying he described the performance of his Mercedes as an "inspiration", but the quality of his driving this year should not be overlooked.

He has four pole positions out of a possible five in 2014 – Saturday was his 35th – and on Sunday he could make it four wins a row for the first time in his career.

No driver has ever put together such a run and not won the world championship.

"It's been a tough day," the 2008 champion said after a dramatic end to qualifying. "I had to eke out everything and more from the car. But at the end I just did it by the skin of my teeth.

"We didn't know where everyone was going to be, so to see the development that's gone on inspires me. To have the kind of performance we have – I've never really known that before. I'm overwhelmed."

It was not just Hamilton who seemed slightly lost for words. The rest of the grid seem equally dumbfounded, but for the opposite reason.

Daniel Ricciardo, not for the first time this year, claimed best of the rest with third place on the grid, and once again expressed his frustration at the size of the gap to Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel will have been left even more exasperated, after he was unable to set a time in the final qualifying session, with Red Bull having to change his gearbox meaning he was relegated to 15th on the grid.

Ricciardo, like everyone else behind, is totally powerless at the moment to stop the two Silver Arrows becoming a mere spec on the horizon. That did not stop the Australian and others impressing on Saturday, however.

Valtteri Bottas and Romain Grosjean, fourth and fifth respectively, worked wonders. Jenson Button showed signs of improvement for McLaren to qualify eighth. There was also a rare mini-victory for Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari, who lines up sixth ahead of home favourite Fernando Alonso in seventh.

Apart from Mercedes' crushing domination, the main topic of discussion was again the new cars, and specifically whether they are too slow.

Hamilton's pole time, a 1min 25.2sec, was nearly five seconds slower than Rosberg's in 2013.

By the 107 per cent rule only the top three from Saturday's qualifying session would have been allowed on the grid in Barcelona last year.

More worryingly, both the Marussias and Caterhams did not post times fast enough to even claim pole position on the grid for GP2, the junior formula.

Max Chilton's lap would have given him only fourth on the feeder series grid in Spain.

Meanwhile, after a strong qualifying performance, Button has spoken of his desire to follow in his late father's footsteps and race in Rallycross when he decides to hang up his Formula One boots. Button, who lost his father John before the start of this season, said he has been watching the new world championship with interest.

"There is a team in America who are racing VW Beetles – that's what dad used to race, so that would be pretty cool," the 34-year-old said.

"I just want to do something where I can take a little motorhome, or a caravan, and take my mates and my family and just hang out with other guys who are having fun; who go and drive because you like driving."